Sympathy for the Devil21:09 Jun 20 2010
Times Read: 554
(This is a little essay I wrote concerning the villifying of the Christian devil in the Bible its relationship to free speech in modern society.
NOTE: In no way am I a Satanist. I have read portions of the Holy Bible, as well as Anton LeVay's Satanic Bible, and I subscribe to the philosophies of neither.)
"It is better to die on your feet than to live on your knees." -Unknown
Though it may be slightly "corny" to take a quote from a T-shirt, the words above are perhaps the most appropriate statements against religious dogma that I have heard, and perfectly demonstrate my defense of the concept of Satan. According to the so-called "Holy" Bible, Satan began as one of God's most trusted Archangels, but was cast from the kingdom of heaven for defying the dogmatic "my way or the highway" sentiment of his master. Thus, Satan the accuser was born, left to reside over the fires of Hell forever, and to become the most infamous villain plotting against mankind's immortal souls. At least that is what the Bible and Christianity would have us believe.
When Satan appeared as the serpent and convinced Adam and Eve to defy God by consuming an apple from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, the first humans were banished from the Garden of Eden and "cursed" with the burden of sin. What exactly is that burden, you might ask. The alledged curse acquired from the aptly named tree was the knowledge of both good and evil, and the free will to choose between the two. From that so called burden arose the creativity and ambition to make humanity (an otherwise frail and unprepared animal) the dominant species on the planet. Without Satan's influence, we would still be blindly wandering our meaningless existence without motivation. Call it sin or merely human nature, but it is Satan's gift that ensures the continuation of the species.
So much evil and death has been blamed on the Devil, whose goat symbolism (taken from earlier gods of free will and sexuality like Pan and Dionysus) seems appropriate considering he has become the favorite scapegoat of those who refuse to blame themselves for the attrocities they commit. In my opinion, if we have to blame someone other than the diabolical humans truly responsible, should not we blame the God of the Bible himself? After all, far more destruction has been committed in the name of God than for any other cause throughout human history. To this very day, people condemn and slaughter their brothers for "crimes" as petty as calling the same deity by a different name. Whether you call him Lord, God, Jehovah, Yahweh, Allah, or any of his myriad of titles, I think it is the God of Christians who is the true face of evil.
Thou shalt not kill, the Old Testament commands. Unless of course you have long hair, pray to other gods, work on the Sabbath, or any number of other insignificant "attrocities". If you have the dignity to take the free will you were given and stand on your own to feet, to defy the petty laws of dogma that condemn you for being less than a slave, then you are angering your creator, and will be put to death, to suffer an eternity of torture in the fires of the very Hell to which Satan himself was condemned. On the opposite side of the coin, how many crusades have been launched by the agents of Satan? How many heretics have been hanged, tortured, or burned at the stake for practicing such archaic beliefs as alchemy, meditation, or astral projection? Though Anton LeVay took it upon himself to pen the Satanic Bible, how many books of "law" has the Devil himself overseen? The answer to all the above questions and literally hundreds of others....none.
What, then, is the crime that earned Satan such undue hatred in our world? He stood on his own two feet with dignity instead of scraping his knees like a slave to conformity. In that sense, I see him as a far more worthy role model than God could ever be. As I said in my summary, I neither believe in God nor the Devil, but I think the idea of Satan has been treated unjustly by God and his followers, as have all of us who are able to think for ourselves. Spirituality, or a lack thereof, is a very personal experience, and should not be reigned over by a cosmic child with a superiority complex. So I say to you now, and hope you have the sense to do so; learn a valuable lesson from Satan's story and his unjust persecution. Though others may condemn you for being your own person, for freeing yourself from the laws penned in the name of God and the propriety of a society afraid to acknowledge its own corrupt nature, there is no better life than one lived with your head held high. When I do good, I feel good. When I do bad, I feel bad. THAT...is my religion.
COMMENTS
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dabbler
00:29 Jul 13 2010
good read, insightful..
Bloodmother
02:15 Aug 04 2010
Zapata said that, I think.
Satan symbolizes our attraction to do wrong w/o feeling bad about it.
2manydesires2B1
02:51 Aug 05 2010
Wow, I really like this. Please write more.
shygothgirl
03:42 Aug 06 2010
Very interesting. You might be interesting in reading a book called Caesar's Messiah by Joseph Atwill. Very enlightening look on many things.
LacyLashes
22:32 Jun 23 2011
I was once kicked out of Sunday school as a very small child for "praying for the devil."
We had been instructed to pray for those who needed it the very most, and when we were asked who we were praying for and why, I answered for the devil..as he was stuck in Hell and needed the most prayers.
They called my Mother and sent me home.
I never understood that.
AjRibcage
05:36 Aug 13 2011
Agreed. That is what I have been saying all along to many people. And to finally find someone that understands what I understand is just amazing.
Devilgirl
18:18 Nov 01 2011
this is really good i really like it.
Isis101
23:25 Apr 05 2014
Informative and well-written.